I'm a fumbling idiot and my flathead doesn't run...

just so Bruce doen't have to type all of that out again

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=132560&highlight=crab+advance

or am I misunderstanding and this is happening at idle?

either way where's Bruce?

 

Where'd you get the cap?

Any chance you could have pushed the terminal on the cap 'through' the plastic so it interfered with the rotor?

Given the quality of some of the caps I've seen, it wouldn't be too hard to imagine that the plug terminal that the rotor is hitting, could have been pushed through the plastic (or whatever these things are made of now) or tweeked off kilter slightely by the pressure it takes to engage the plug wire.

 

Is the cap 'seating' correctly on the dizzy? A burr or something 'cocking' it slightly???
How tight is the dizzy shaft?? Wobble??

Is there enough 'meat' on the rotor to just file it to get clearance??

Just throwing out ideas here........

 

How many rotors have you tried?

If it's fully seated on the shaft, then I'd say it's either the wrong rotor for the caps or it's a bad part...

Could the points and condenser be keeping it from fully seating?

 

Any Side To Side Play In Distributor Shaft??

 

can we get some pictures of the issue Ryan

 

All that points burning/losing gap and so forth sounds like a bad condensor (an electronic shock absorber of sorts). But, when you got to replacing the condensor you found the rotor was broke. So we never heard the result of the replaced condensor. Anyway on the cap/rotor thing, it sounds like some overseas/import/shit cap if the rotor's just hitting ONE of the contacts. If you get past the cap/rotor issue, and you bought a quality condensor, i think it'll be fixed. Hard to fix em from here, but that's my take on it

 

Now, is it hitting ALL the contact points? Is the distributor out of the engine, and you're turning by hand? If it's bad distributor bushings, it usually gets pushed in only one direction in the engine, but not so true spinning by hand. Still getting away from the initial problem i believe. Hard as a bitch without being there, sorry.

 

My 46 distributor I removed to replace with an electronic one had the same exact symptoms. The rotor was hit the sparkplug terminals so hard it almost wore them in half. i dont have any explanation of how or why this happened. My guess too is that something wasnt correctly aligned or properly seated. So instead of screwing around with an original. i bit the bullet and threw on the electronic one.
Also.. i have a boat load of used dizzy parts and dizzys. If you find something needs replaced give me a yell. i have some freebees for you. PJ

 

I've done the disassemble/reassemble duty on various things. After doing it a couple of times we get "good" at it, go faster, and just mess up somewhere. This link will tell ya for sure if its assembled right, one less thing to think about anyway.
Mike

http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/FH_images/FH_engine-pics/Flathead_Distributor_1942to44.JPG

 

It doesn't like Texas...send her to me and you can come visit once in awhile!

 

I'm bffled, since the stuff fit before and you've tried multiple parts...
Could the issue somehow invalve axial rather than radial factors??
Lookatit...is flat part of shaft essentially level with rear of casting?? How much end play?
Is the front bearing down right to top of cam?? Pop out the big snap ring--is point plate solidly down into its shelf with ring firmly seated above it?
HEY!! Did you assemble with brake piston in place?? Maybe brake disc is atop the piston rather than down at its middle if this happened.
I happen to have a crab sitting here in my office to consult. Something's gotta be stacked in there wrong!!

 

are the points hittng?
then they are not set against the lobe right.
of corse they were compared to the working/ burnt ones ?
if is hitting while in spinningyour hand then its the bushing /shaft play ..
get the specs and measure fromthe above mentioned site
rotor cracked -hitting points runs for a while th........
shaft playwas there a gasket or spacer?
the hold down and plate dimension should be checked too
have a spare dist yet ordered?... keep it with your AAA CARD
and why did you not bring the dist to work with you ... what else do you have to talk about on a friday.....football

NOW YOU REALLY LOVE YOUR NEW ROD AS ITS GETTIN YOU THINKIN ABOUT IT EVEN MORE...
GOOD LUCK
PAPERDOG

 

Yeah, i'm stymied too. If i'm reading right, you have 2 seperate issues. The points burning/closing, and then as you changed the condensor (which may have fixed it), you discovered a broken rotor (which should have nothing to do with points gap closing). Good luck. PS-is the rotor hitting "UP" (too much upward movement of dist. shaft)at the contacts, or outward (too long a rotor tip)?

 

You're going to love to hate your flatty.
I hope your peter is long cause your patience will need to be in-exhaustable. Welcome to the club.
Keith... whats your Hamb name??

 

Visual check points for assembly:
Brake disc visible cutting across brke pad right at middle
Rear of shaft flush with case, very little end play
At front, front bearing is right down against cam top, tops of point springs just about level with rim of case,
Not to quibble, but whyinhell does it suddenly need filing when it fit before??
Worst i've ever had was sliding contact at a tip or two with no real interference with rotation...
The things are very forgiving...I had an odd tick after tuning up a 59A once; after two days, I noticed cap oscillating as engine idled...I had left cap just dangling on the wire harnesses in front of distrib, and it was running happily except for the infernal ticking!

 

Sounds like the rotor is hitting high, not wide.. The dizzy shaft is walking up on rotation.. I'm guessing something is misassembled allowing that to happen.
A gasket or spring shim missing perhaps?

 

Points issues are likely bad furrin repro points; these oft have misplaced pivot holes, so in a dual point you have your choice of wrong gap or wrong overall dwell. Also, the rubbing blocks rub right away very quickly. Both issues encourage fried points, especially since their points are crap too. Other than that, they are fine.
Another POSSIBLE cause is a cam that rusted and has pits grinding away the rubbing blocks.
Get points from a recognizable USA source like NAPA or Standard!!

 

Overall endplay should be quite tight, maybe a couple thou.

 

Burned Points Come From Forced Spark When Opened ...
All The Spark Is Not Getting To The Plugs / Gapped Right?... Engine Grounded ... Good Extra Ground Strap... To A Cleaned Bare Metal Frame/ Body Mount All Grounded Together .... A Non Squeak Ride/body Rubber Mounted Means A Extra Ground Is Needed ..
Ya... Ya ..they Are Kinda Ugly But Ya Gotta Have One Or Two To Get That Hotter Spark Thru The System
Old Style Plug Wires Also Have Greater Resistance

A Newer Style Plug Wire Set For A Trial Run
Try A Single Point Set Dist. And Go From There
You Really Won't Notice The Difference Until You Have A Single Type Dist. Running Great First
When The Issues Of Dist Parts Hittin Is Fixed

Good Luck

 

Ryan,

--a little trick, if you have to file the rotor...take just enough off the rotor to get it to clear, then you can "gauge" your clearance by stacking up little pieces of masking tape on the distrubutor cap contact. Keep filing untill the desired clearence is obtained. Also would be a good way to check to make sure the "gap" is not to big on the adjacent terminals. think of it as a little sticky feeler gauge.

...most masking tape is .005-.007" in thickness...so if you want to get .020 clearence, file the rotor (or I guess you could even file the terminal in the cap for that matter) till it wont rub the tape with 3 layers stacked up on the terminal, and will touch a little with 4 layers of tape....and probably will not turn past that terminal with 5 layers of tape...etc.

Just a way that you might "measure" how much clearance you are getting.


Good Luck,
--reed

 

Oh Ya
Be Carful Filing Rotors As The Slight Imperfections(grooves From Filing )increase The Path Lentgh The Spark Needs To Travel... Causing New Hot Arc Areas... Tmporary Fix On Burnt Points And Such
Use The Finest Emory Paper (wifes Best Nail Fle)

Look At It Under A Magnifying Glass ..to Be Sure..

Sharp Corners Are Needed Do Not Round Off Corners!

SounDs As Tho You Will Be Heading Home EarLY Today
Hahaha

Paperdog

 

Ryan -

Burned points:

Along with the various fixes described here, I've had problems with the resistance of 'modern' plugs causing points to burn prematurely. I usedta use platinum plugs thinking they reached self-cleaning temps faster, but they are designed for use with HEI ignitions and cause the points to 'eat' themselves after a few thousand miles.

Interference:

Whilst Mr. Tardel is most likely correct, the fact it worked okay once but doesn't now would give me pause. Did you pull the entire distributor out of its home - or simply remove the cap? If you pulled it out, then you may have an assembly clearance issue, which should be resolved B4 you attempt to run the motor any more than you have. If all you did was muck about under the cap (without dizzy removal), then filing is the hot ticket.

Hopefully your parking spot is far from your desk - in my case it's less than ten feet. If I had a problem like yours, it would *kill* me to see the car sittin' there with a problem...I'd prolly end up in the parking lot!

 

Good points and troubleshooting will get you all the performance and reliability you need. I put many miles on my '48 Ford with never an actual distributor problem. It's my father's old car that I came home from the hospital in, China 1948, and drove all through college...250,000 miles with nothing but normal tune up work going into ignition.